– It was crazy hot and not a little humid, my favorite combo. And there was AC almost nowhere, it was really blowing my mind. And everyone looked pretty comfortable except me, I was a puddle. I must have passed a hundred restaurants, not a single one had air conditioning. Either it rarely gets this hot here, or these people just love heat and humidity.

– So where does one go to escape heat? What kind of place is guaranteed to have AC? A museum of course. So I spent a couple of hours at the nearby Australian Museum learning some fascinating things about Aboriginal culture and the treatment of Aboriginal groups in Australian history. (Cliffs Notes version: they were not treated well at all)

– After that, I went to get an expensive haircut at a local hip barbershop. It looks good and cuts the heat a bit.

– I also purchased (and will try later with Nick) what is supposedly the best lamington in all of Sydney, from this place.

– Since it was so hot, I went looking for a small fan (Nick does not have one in his apartment). You would not believe how difficult it is to find an item you can get in any corner drugstore in America. I gave up, unsuccessful and bewildered.

– I have also tried to order things with ice in them, and this too seems like something crazy exotic to Aussies. Especially iced coffee. In three different places I tried to explain the concept of cold coffee with ice cubes in it, but the closest I got was coffee with ice cream in it. I am baffled.

In about an hour, Nick and I are leaving on a bus to Canberra (Australia’s capital) for the weekend. I will not be taking my laptop with me, so will probably not blog again until our return. We will be seeing a lot of capital culture and friends of Nick’s and going to some country style dance party, stay tuned for details.